Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) took a much needed victory ahead of the Tour de France with win in the Italian national road race on Saturday.

Nibali beat neo-pro Davide Formolo (Cannondale) in second place with Matteo Rabottini (Neri Sottoli) finishing in third. The Astana leader attacked inside the last mile with only Formolo able to respond.

The race began with 124 riders setting out with attacks almost from the gun. A seven-man move slipped clear after 13 kilometers of racing, with the group quickly building up a lead close to four minutes. With strength in numbers in the bunch and having missed the move, Cannondale set about controlling the pace, and they made sure that the break didn’t have too much room. After 70km of racing, the gap had moved out to 5:20, but by now the leaders were starting to fade and within another 15km the gap to the bunch had dropped to 4:30.

Cannondale were given a hand when Astana joined them on the front of the peloton - a move that spelled the begging of the end for the seven up the road.

Gozzi and Cecchinel were the last remaining rider from the break as they held a plucky 40 seconds over the bunch, that had been reduced to less than 30 riders. With still 56km to go Gozzi was a spent force, leaving Cecchinel on his own and at the head of the race.

A counter attack was always on the cards and Elia Viviani (Cannondale), Matteo Montaguti (AG2R-La Mondiale), Gianluca Brambilla (Omega Pharma) and Ricardo Pichetta (Team Idea) set off after Cecchinel was reeled in.

They were soon joined by Michele Scarponi (Astana) and Gianfranco Zilioli (Androni). Nibali and several others made their move and after a number of skirmishes six riders remained: Scarponi, Nibali, Pozzovivo, Formolo, Rabottini and Ivan Santaromita. With 18km to six became 17 with more riders latching on.

On the final climb of the race Nibali took the situation by the scruff of the neck, whittling down the final break to a few riders before jumping clear in the last mile with Formolo.